The perfect problem

I just read an interesting article describing global warming as the "perfect problem" for its uniquely daunting confluence of forces:

• complex and inaccessible scientific content


• a substantial (and uncertain) time lag between cause and effect


• inertia in all the key drivers of the problem, from demographic growth to long-lived energy infrastructure to ingrained daily habits at the household level


• psychological barriers that complicate apprehension and processing of the issue, due in part to its perceived remoteness in time and place


• partisan, cultural, and other filters that cause social discounting or obfuscation of the threat


• motivational obstacles, especially the futility associated with what is perhaps the quintessential "collective action problem" of our time


• mismatches between the global, cross-sectoral scope of the climate change issue and the jurisdiction, focus, and capacity of existing institutions


• a set of hard-wired incentives, career and otherwise, that inhibit focused attention and action on the issue

There is a much longer report generated by these top thinkers (see PDF) but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I guess it's a good thing that my purpose in life is solving complex problems because this one is as complex as they get.